Dynamic constraints for content rights

ABSTRACT

A device for playing digital media comprises a connection for receiving content over a network and a digital rights management (“DRM”) module that identifies rights for the received content by accessing a DRM data structure. The DRM data structure can be a temporal cache. The device receives content and the DRM module identifies identifiers associated with the content and/or the device. The DRM module uses the identifiers to access the DRM data structure and identify rights associated with the content. The identified rights are applied to the content to prevent and/or permit activities with respect to the content. Permitted activities for the content may be presented in a display of the device and can be updated as the content changes and/or as rights associated with content change. Content providers and other authorized entities can change the rights associated with particular content by updating the DRM data structure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/803,484 filed May 30, 2006, which application isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. The Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to digital content and related devices.More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to the managementof digital rights in digital content.

2. The Relevant Technology

Digital media is becoming ubiquitous in our society. Many people haveaccess to digital content in one form or another. Not surprisingly,there are many different types of devices that can play the digitalcontent. Personal audio players such as mp3 players, for example, canplay digital audio content. Personal audio players enable media contentto be loaded from a user's library as well as added to the library bypurchasing audio content over the Internet.

One of the concerns with devices that can play digital content such aspersonal audio players relates to copyright concerns. In fact, therights of a user, the owner, and the provider of digital content are amajor concern.

One of the ways that these concerns are addressed is through the use ofdigital rights management (“DRM”), which generally refers to variousschemes that are intended to control access to digital media such asdigital audio or video. Digital rights management is not limited tocopyright concerns however, and can be used by the provider of thecontent to impose restrictions in addition to normal copyrightprotections.

In sum, digital rights is an issue that is difficult to manage becausecontent can be received from different types of sources, in differentformats, and over different types of networks. The ability to manage therights associated with the content in various contexts is currently notmanageable with conventional DRM schemes.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other limitations are overcome by embodiments of the presentinvention, which include a device that can play digital media. Thedevice comprises a connection for receiving content over a network and adigital rights management (“DRM”) data structure that identifies rightsfor the received content. The content can be received from one or morecontent providers, over one or more channels for at least one contentprovider, and over one or more networks (including a wired and/or awireless network).

The content received by the device can be protected according to theinvention. In one embodiment, the content is protected by receiving thecontent from a provider, and identifying at least one of an aspect ofthe device's state when the content is received; and a channelassociated with the content. This information can be used to access adigital rights management data structure and identify rights for thecontent. Once the rights have been identified, they are applied to thecontent to prevent and/or permit certain activities with respect to thecontent.

According to another embodiment, content is accessed and identifiersassociated with the content are identified. The identifiers can includea content provider of the content, a network type over which the contentis accessed, and a device state of the device when the content isaccessed. The identifiers are transmitted to a remote server, which usesthe identifiers to access a digital rights management data structure andthereby identify rights associated with the content, which aretransmitted to the device. The device receives the rights and appliesthem to the content to prevent and/or permit certain activities withrespect to the content.

These and other advantages and features of the present invention willbecome more fully apparent from the following description and appendedclaims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forthhereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify the advantages and features of the present invention,a more particular description of the invention will be rendered byreference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in theappended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict onlytypical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to beconsidered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described andexplained with additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment for implementing embodimentsof the invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate embodiments of digital rights management thatmay be implemented at a device where consumption of digital contenttypically occurs;

FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of a display that presents some of theoptions available to a user based on the rights associated with thecontent;

FIG. 4 illustrates another display that presents options available tothe user based on rights associated with the content;

FIG. 5 illustrates a system and method for performing digital rightsmanagement; and

FIG. 6 illustrates perspective front and rear views of one embodiment ofa device that implements digital rights management.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention relate to a personal electronic device andto the management of digital rights associated with the device's digitalcontent. In particular, embodiments of the invention relate to digitalrights management in a wired or wireless enabled personal audio/videodevice. One of skill in the art, with the benefit of the presentdisclosure, can appreciate that embodiments of the invention can bepracticed in conjunction with other devices that may include, but arenot limited to, personal digital assistants, cellular telephones,personal audio devices, satellite radios, and the like or anycombination thereof.

Embodiments of the invention provide a platform for digital content. Theplatform includes digital rights management. Advantageously, theplatform of digital rights management provides, by way of example,variable granularity regarding the implementation of the digital rights,dynamic implementation of digital rights, and the ability to update thedigital rights as needed. The rights associated with specific content orwith specific groupings of content can be updated by the contentprovider at any time. By way of example only, media content or contentrefers to World Wide Web content, digital or analog audio/video contentin various formats, images in various formats, and the like or anycombination thereof

In one example, an 802.11 enabled personal audio/video device canreceive content over a wireless network. The content can be delivered byvarious content providers. Embodiments of the invention can also dockwith another device such as a computer for various reasons (e.g.,altering stored content) and perform in a similar manner over thecomputer's connection.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a device 100 that includes aplatform for digital rights management. The device 100 has a userinterface 102 that includes a display 104 and an input mechanism 106.The input mechanism 106 may include, but is not limited to, a clickwheel, buttons, soft keys, and the like or any combination thereof Usingthe user interface 102, a user can navigate content stored on thedevice, configure device settings, select channels, select specificnetworks, and the like.

The device 100 is preferably a network connectable device. Thus, thedevice 100 may include a connection for accessing one or more networks.The device, for example, may include the ability to access multipletypes of wireless networks, including 802.11 related networks (e.g.,WiFi) and others using the antenna 118, which may be part of theconnection. The device 100, in addition to 802.11 type networks, mayhave access to other radio frequency networks such as a cellularnetwork, a satellite network, and/or terrestrial RF networks (e.g.,WiMAX, AM, FM, DAB (digital audio broadcasting)), etc.

The device 100, for example, may be able to access the Internet througha hardwired connection or a wireless access point (e.g., a WiFihotspot). Once connected to the Internet, the device 100 may interactwith multiple content providers, represented by the content providers122 and 124. In one embodiment, the device 100 may access satellitebroadcast content over the Internet rather than over a satellitenetwork. The device 100 may also be able to access terrestrial radiobroadcasts (digital radio, FM, AM, and the like). Further, the device100 may also be able to receive and provide other media content, such asWorld Wide Web content, television content, video content and the likeor any combination thereof. The network 120 represents, in one example,a wireless access point, the Internet, a local or wide area network, asatellite network, an RF network, and the like or any combinationthereof.

In one example, the device 100 may be a wireless-enabled personal musicdevice that can access media content through the Internet using wirelessnetwork connections including WiFi wireless connections. The user of thedevice 100 can access media content whenever the device 100 is withinrange of a wireless access point or whenever access to a network ispresent.

The device 100 also includes a processor 1 10, memory 112 and variousmodules 116. The modules 116 represent the software or computerexecutable instructions that, when executed, cause the device to accessnetworks, download content, manage content, provide and control the userinterface including the display 104, record media content, and the likeor any combination thereof In one embodiment, the modules 116 include adigital rights management (“DRM”) module 116 that implements digitalrights management in the device 100, as will be discussed more fullybelow. The memory 112 may store media content from the user's library onanother device or may store a library of media content that has beenrecorded or purchased over the wireless connection or that has beenshared with the device 100 from another user.

The device 100 can also include a DRM data structure 114 stored inmemory 112. While the DRM module 116 and the DRM data structure 114 aredepicted as separate components, they can be integrated into a singlecomponent. In particular, the DRM module 116 can include the DRM datastructure 114. Alternatively, the DRM module may access the datastructure 114 locally or remotely. As indicated above, digital rightsmanagement is typically intended to protect the copyright interests ofthe content providers or to implement policies of the content provider.Embodiments of the invention can integrate existing DRM schemes andprovide additional rights management.

In one embodiment, the DRM module 116/DRM data structure 114 augmenttraditional DRM implementations through the use of a multi-dimensionalmatrix or other structure that enables rights to be protected. While theDRM data structure 114 can be implemented on the device 100 asillustrated, it can also be backed up on a remote server if desired.Alternately, the DRM data structure 114 can be implemented solely on aremote server or primarily on a remote server with a backup on thedevice 100. The backup copy of the DRM data structure 114 enables adevice to be quickly restored with the relevant rights if necessary.

The DRM data structure 114 can be used by the DRM module 116 to identifythe appropriate rights in a wide variety of different contexts andenable rights associated with media content to be described orimplemented by the device 100. As described previously, the rightsassociated with specific content can depend on the content provider, theway that the content is delivered, the format of the content, thenetwork connection, and other factors. The DRM data structure 114 andDRM module 116 enable the device as well as content providers to set oridentify those rights based on various factors.

There are various ways or contexts in which the DRM data structure 114may be used or accessed. In one example, the device 100 may use the DRMdata structure 114 and DRM module 116 to contact a service or contentprovider in order to authorize the device. The device 100 can contactthe service or content provider immediately when access to content isdesired, or within some pre-determined period of time, and the like. Theability to authorize the device within some period of time may ensuredevice functionality, for example, in situations where a networkconnection may not be available. In one embodiment, the rightsidentified in the DRM data structure 114 and accessible by the DRMmodule 116 can be temporally cached so that if the user does not have anetwork connection, the content may still be experienced. For example,each time that the content is accessed, an attempt is made to access theservice or content provider. If successful, it resets the timer on thetemporal cache. If unsuccessful, it uses the cached copy so long as thecached copy is not stale (that is, it has not exceeded the timethreshold for checking in with the service).

In another example, the DRM data structure 114 can be accessed by thecontent provider 122. The ability of a content provider 122 to accessthe DRM data structure 114 therefore provides the content provider 122with a way to update rights as needed or whenever the content provider122 desires to change the rights. The device 100 can then immediatelyimplement those rights. There are various situations, for example, whenthe rights associated with content can change. Content rights oftenchange over time, for example. The use of the DRM data structure 114 andDRM module 116 enables those changes to be made effective at a devicelevel and enables the rights of different users with different devicesto easily account for differences between devices, differences betweenuser subscriptions, differences between content providers, differencesbetween networks, and the like or any combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the DRM data structure 114 comprises amulti-dimensional DRM matrix that includes axes and/or entries that arerelated to: 1) channels or songs; 2) states of local device (e.g.,channels, device capabilities, subscription, content of provider,content delivery); and 3) actions permitted and rights protected. In oneembodiment, each entry in the DRM matrix corresponds to specific rightsfor a given situation that can be described in terms of the axes of theDRM matrix.

As indicated above, one of the axes of the DRM matrix may be the devicestate. In some instances, the state of the local device is determined inpart by the results of previous interactions with a service or contentprovider to set the device's capabilities, channels, subscription level,and the like or any combination thereof Other aspects of the devicestate include the type of device, its capabilities, the media usagebehavior of the device since the device last communicated with theservice, and the like or any combination thereof.

When decisions relating to rights are based on a matrix of criteria,such as may be included in the DRM data structure 114, the device statemay also include state that is established by a service or contentprovider during prior communications or during a current communication.For example, a service or other content provider may participate and/ormanage the coordination of multiple DRM schemes, rights sets,subscription levels, and the like or any combination thereof Forexample, a service can coordinate the management of DRM schemes formultiple content providers and/or multiple content owners. The deviceand the service can cooperate over the network to enforce the specificrights set in the DRM, even in situations where network communication islost or currently not present.

As previously described, the DRM matrix can have one or more axes. Notethat, while described as comprising a DRM matrix, the DRM data structure114 can be represented in other manners and may be resident on thedevice and/or on a remote server. Thus, the device may simply transmitthe various identifiers (e.g., content provider, network type, devicestate) to the remote server and the remote server can access a DRM datastructure (such as a DRM matrix) and return the relevant rights for theconfiguration identified by the device.

A matrix configuration for the DRM data structure 114 is useful becausedifferent types of content have different types of permitted activitiesaccording to the preferences of the content owners or of the contentproviders and/or the associated copyrights. Some content, for example,can be recorded whereas other content cannot be recorded. The DRM datastructure 114 enables the permitted actions with regard to content to beexpansive, scalable, and customizable. Further, the permitted actionscan be arbitrary. For example, sharing permissions, ability to play backthe content a specified number of times, volume limits, and the like areexamples of rights that may be applied to the content.

For example, the rights identified in the DRM data structure andenforced by the DRM module for content received from a first contentprovider such as a satellite radio content provider may prevent thecontent from being recorded while the rights for the same contentreceived over a terrestrial network may allow the content to berecorded. In this case, the content provided by the satellite radiocontent provider can be received over the satellite network or over theInternet through a wireless access point or a hardwired connection. Therights identified in the DRM data structure 114 and enforced by the DRMmodule 116 may depend on whether the content is received over theInternet or over a satellite network.

Beneficially, the content provider may have the ability to access theDRM data structure 114 and change the rights stored therein. This isparticularly true when the device 100 is accessing the content via awireless access point. The protocol of this type of connection enableseasily established bi-directional communication with the contentprovider. Alternatively, a user may be able to access updates to the DRMdata structure 114 manually or automatically. In this case, contentproviders may post their rights to a website and the device 100 may beable to update its DRM data structure 114 by accessing the website.

Conventional DRM schemes rely on static interpretations of rights inthat the rights are created at the time the content is loaded and cannottypically be changed after creation. The DRM data structure 114described herein provides dynamic rights that can be changed and are notstatic. In some instances, the rights are related to the transportmethod, dynamic rights checking, state variables in addition to time,and the like. In other words, the accessing of the DRM data structure114 extends the traditional capabilities of DRM by allowing for theserights to change based on input from at least one of the content holder,content owner, or content provider.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate embodiments of a DRM matrix which may beimplemented in the DRM data structure 114 of FIG. 1. For simplicity andease of illustration, FIG. 2A illustrates a two-dimensional DRM matrix200 and FIG. 2B illustrates a three-dimensional matrix 250. In FIG. 2A,the DRM matrix 200 has axes that include a source 202 and a device state204. Each entry in the DRM matrix 200 includes the rights for thevarious permutations or configurations that are possible based on theaxes.

The source 202 can typically be determined by the device 100.Alternatively, the source information may be included in the stream ofcontent delivered to the device 100. A content provider is one exampleof a source 202. The DRM data structure 200 allows rights to be set forcontent from each source. Furthermore, the rights for each source maydepend on the device state 204.

The device state 204 may refer to how the device is operating and canalso be identified by the device. The device state may include asubscription level of the device. For instance, the rights available toa device at a first subscription level may exceed the rights availableto the device at a second subscription level. In addition to thespecific examples already given, the device state 204 may refer to thenetwork over which content is being received (e.g., Internet, satellite,terrestrial radio). Device state may also include such items as numberof times some particular content has been accessed.

Once the source 202 and the device state 204 are determined, thecorresponding entry in the DRM matrix 200, such as the entry 206, thenidentifies the rights that are applicable to the content being receivedor played. Once the rights are identified, those rights can beimplemented for relevant content by the DRM module 116 on the device100. As previously indicated, the device may also access a contentprovider based on the entry 206 to authorize the device 100 according tothose specific rights in one example.

This enables the rights associated with various content sources and/orproviders to be implemented dynamically. As previously indicated, theDRM matrix 200 can also be updated by a particular source or for aparticular device state without impacting other rights associated withother device states. In some instances, the service or content providermay be able to push rights to the device as changes are made. The devicemay also be able to pull updated rights from the DRM matrix 200automatically.

FIG. 2B illustrates one embodiment of a three-dimensional DRM matrix250. The DRM matrix 250 may have similar functionality as compared tothe DRM matrix 200 of FIG. 2A. However, the DRM matrix 250 has a thirdaxis which enables finer granularity in providing digital rightsmanagement. In the present case, the DRM matrix 250 has axes thatinclude content provider 252, device state 254, and channel 256. Aspreviously indicated, the device 100 may be configured to identify thecontent provider 252 and the device state 254. Additionally, the device100 may be configured to identify the channel 256. Alternately, thecontent provider 252, device state 254 and channel 256 information maybe included in the stream of content delivered to the device 100.

The channel may be a particular stream of content and may refer to oneof the channels of content offered by a satellite radio provider or to achannel of content from a terrestrial radio, online radio, or onlineprovider of media content. In each case, the DRM matrix 250 enables thevarious content providers 252 of the channels 256 to set rightsaccording to specific channels of content. Further, the rights mayadditionally depend on the device state 254. For example, a satelliteradio content provider that delivers content to a device over theInternet may provide multiple channels of content (e.g., a rock channel,a country channel, a sports channel). The DRM matrix 200 may include oneor more rights entries for each of these channels and for differentdevice states. Thus, the content provider can specify rights based on aper channel basis as well as using other factors, such as device state,if desired.

As with the DRM matrix 200 of FIG. 2A, once the content provider 252,device state 254 and channel 256 are identified, a corresponding entry,such as the entry 260, then identifies the rights that are applicable tothe content being received or played. Those rights can be implementedfor relevant content by the DRM module 116 and/or a content provider canbe accessed based on the entry 260 to authorize the device 100 accordingto those specific rights.

One advantage of the DRM matrices 200 and 250 is that they can berelated to and/or used to control a dynamic interface that may reflectthe specific rights in the DRM matrices 200, 250. For example, a devicemay have the ability to save content, record content, share content, andthe like or any combination thereof Often these abilities are dependenton the rights associated with the content as identified in the DRMmatrices 200 and 250.

One of skill in the art, with the benefit of this disclosure, canenvision other methods for implementing DRM as described herein,including using a database in place of the multi-dimensional matrix.Further, one of skill in the art can also appreciate that a DRM matrixcan have four or more dimensions. These dimensions can be used tofurther specify rights to content in any manner desired. For example,the DRM matrix may have an artist axis, a song axis, a subscriptionaxis, a network axis, and the like or any combination thereof Thus, aDRM matrix provides fine granularity as well as scalability to contentproviders and/or to artists.

Embodiments of the invention can update the user interface dynamically.FIG. 3, for example, illustrates a display 300 that presents thepermitted activities available to the user for a particular channel asidentified in the DRM matrix 200 or 250. A user may be allowed, based onthe rights 206 or 260 from the DRM matrix 200 or 250, for example, tosave 302, share 304, or record 306 the content delivered to the device100. The rights 208 or 262 for another channel of content, on the otherhand may be different. FIG. 4 illustrates a display 400 that presentsthe permitted activities available to the user for this channel. Moreparticularly, the user is allowed to share 402 the content.

The display can therefore be updated dynamically as the user changeschannels or switches sources or changes the device state, or anycombination thereof Thus, as a user browses the content that isaccessible to a device or experiences content that is available to thedevice, the user interface can dynamically reflect the rights affordedthe user.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method for dynamically updating rights and/or forsetting rights for content. In this example, a DRM module 502 operatingon a device receives content 504 from a content provider. The DRM module502 may be one embodiment of the DRM module 116 of FIG. 1. The contentcan be received, as discussed herein, over a wired network, over awireless network including an 802.11 network, or over another wirelessnetwork such as a satellite network or a terrestrial radio network.

The DRM module 502 receives or has access to the content 504 and to aDRM data structure 506, which may be one embodiment of the DRM matrix200 or 250 of FIG. 2A or 2B, respectively. While illustrated separately,the DRM data structure 506 may be included within the DRM module 502. Inthis example, the DRM module 502 can determine the device state and/orthe channel of the content from the device itself or from the content504. Additionally, if the DRM data structure 506 includes three or moreaxes rather than two as in the present example, the DRM module 502 maydetermine values for all of the axes.

With this information, the DRM module 502 can access the DRM datastructure 506 to identify the rights 508 to be applied to the content504. Additionally, the DRM module 502 can enforce the identified rights508 by enabling certain activities specified in the rights 508 and/orcan also provide the rights to a user interface of the device fordisplay to a user of the device.

FIG. 5 further illustrates that a content provider 510 may have accessto the DRM data structure 506, enabling the content provider 510 tochange or update the rights stored in or accessible to the DRM datastructure 506. For example, a particular content provider thatpreviously prevented content from being recorded may make a change thatenables the content to be recorded. Advantageously, this willautomatically be reflected to the display as previously described in oneembodiment or this right will be enabled in the device 100.Alternatively, a content provider may open a window of time during whichcontent can be freely shared or recorded. A content provider may alsodisable or delete one or more rights. More generally, the contentprovider or other authorized entity can set the rights for the providedcontent or for a portion of the provided content.

Because the DRM data structure 506 has multiple dimensions, a contentprovider can also provide updates according to the various dimensions ofthe DRM data structure 506. A content provider, for example, can changerights for a particular channel, for a particular transport method forthe content, for a particular artist, for a particular song, album,video, and the like or any combination thereof that are supported by theDRM data structure 506.

The DRM data structure 506 can also be used by the DRM module todetermine whether there is a permissible way to obtain content in amanner desired by the user. For example, the user may desire to recordcontent, but currently be prevented from doing so. The DRM module mayquery the DRM data structure to determine if there is a combination thatenables the content to be recorded. Some solutions identified by the DRMmodule may include, but are not limited to, switching to a channel withdifferent rights on the content, purchasing the content, changing auser's service subscription, and the like.

In another embodiment, the content provider can include certain tags inthe content 504 that can impact the rights in a dynamic fashion. Forexample, a tag may be included that enables content to be recorded for acertain time period. This could enable a user to record a preview of asong and then share that preview with others for example. The tag thatis included in this manner can be used to control any aspect of thecontent (e.g., volume control, number of times recorded media can beplayed/shared, quality of recording, and the like or any combinationthereof).

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various of the foregoingfeatures of the invention may be practiced alone or in networkenvironments with many types of computer system configurations,including media players, satellite radio receivers, AM/FM transmittersor receivers, DAB transmitters or receivers, personal computers,hand-held devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframecomputers, and the like. Aspects of the invention may also be practicedin distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by localand remote processing devices that are linked (either by hardwiredlinks, wireless links, or by a combination of hardwired or wirelesslinks) through a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

FIG. 6 illustrates perspective views of one embodiment of a personalaudio and/or video device with display and navigation mechanisms thatcan be used in conjunction with the features of the present invention.FIG. 6 illustrates one view of the rear portion 602 of the device andtwo views of the front portion 604 and 606. In this example, the deviceis a hand-held device, although larger devices can also be used. Thedevice includes a display 608 having various display methods. A user caninteract with the device using a touchpad 610, electromechanical keys ona keypad, such as arrow keys and alphanumeric keys, soft keys 614 ondisplay 608, a navigation wheel, other device buttons 618, a remotecontrol device (not shown) associated with the device, voice commands,or by moving the communication device in a particular way. The devicemay also include port 616 for connecting audio headgear and port 612 forconnecting the device to a docking station or connector for charging thedevice. Of course, the device can include any of a variety ofconfigurations and designs that are contemplated within the scope of thepresent invention.

Embodiments of the device may include computer-readable media forcarrying or having computer-executable instructions or data structuresstored thereon. Such computer-readable media can be any available mediathat can be accessed by a portable device or general purpose or specialpurpose computer. By way of example, and not limitation, suchcomputer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or otheroptical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storagedevices, or any other medium which can be used to carry or store desiredprogram code means in the form of computer-executable instructions ordata structures and which can be accessed by a portable device orgeneral purpose or special purpose computer. When information istransferred or provided over a network or another communicationsconnection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination of hardwiredand wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views the connectionas a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection is properlytermed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the above should alsobe included within the scope of computer-readable media.Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions anddata which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or special purpose processing device to perform a certain function orgroup of functions.

Although not required, the invention may be described in the generalcontext of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules,being executed by computers in network environments. Generally, programmodules include acts, routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated datastructures, and program modules represent examples of the program codemeans for executing acts of the methods disclosed herein. The particularsequence of such executable instructions or associated data structuresrepresents examples of corresponding acts for implementing the functionsdescribed in such acts.

The devices may also include a magnetic hard disk drive for reading fromand writing to a magnetic hard disk, a magnetic disk drive for readingfrom or writing to a removable magnetic disk, or an optical disk drivefor reading from or writing to removable optical disk such as a CD-ROMor other optical media. The device may also include non-volatile memoryincluding flash memory. The drives and their associatedcomputer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage ofcomputer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules andother data. Although the example environment described herein may employa magnetic hard disk, a removable magnetic disk and/or a removableoptical disk, other types of computer readable media for storing datacan be used, including magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalversatile disks, Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, and the like.

Program code means comprising one or more program modules may be storedon the hard disk, magnetic disk, optical disk, ROM or RAM, including anoperating system, one or more application programs, other programmodules, and program data. A user may enter commands and informationthrough a keyboard, pointing device, or other input devices (not shown),such as a microphone, joy stick, touch pad, game pad, satellite dish,scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connectedto the processing unit through a universal serial bus (USB) or serialport interface coupled to system bus. Alternatively, the input devicesmay be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, or a gameport. A display device is also connected to system bus via an interface,such as video adapter.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or essential characteristics. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. A device that can play digital media, the device comprising: aconnection that receives content over a network; and a digital rightsmanagement module that identifies and enforces rights for the content byaccessing a data structure that stores the rights for the content,wherein the content is one or more of: received from one or more contentproviders; received over one or more channels for at least one contentprovider; and received over one or more networks.
 2. The device of claim1, further comprising a user interface, wherein the user interface isconfigured to display to a user of the device one or more activitiesthat are permitted for the content, the one or more permitted activitiesbased on the rights identified for the content.
 3. The device of claim1, wherein rights applicable to specific content are identified byaccessing the data structure using one or more of a channel, a contentprovider, and a device state identified by the digital rights managementmodule.
 4. The device of claim 3, wherein the one or more contentproviders can access the data structure to update the rights applicableto specific content.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein the datastructure comprises a temporal cache stored on the device, such that thedigital rights management module can identify and enforce the rights byaccessing the temporal cache as long as the temporal cache is not stale.6. The device of claim 1, wherein the device accesses a service toenforce rights in the data structure.
 7. The device of claim 1, whereinthe data structure is updated periodically either by the device or by aremote service.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the data structurefurther comprises one or more axes used to identify specific rights forthe content.
 9. The device of claim 8, wherein the one or more axescomprise a channel or source of content and a device state.
 10. Thedevice of claim 9, wherein the device state comprises one or more of: atype of the device; one or more capabilities of the device; media usagebehavior of the device since the device last communicated with aservice, wherein the service cooperates with the digital rightsmanagement module to set and/or enforce rights for the content;subscription level; and network type.
 11. The device of claim 1, whereinthe one or more networks over which content can be received include atleast one wireless network.
 12. A method for protecting content usingdigital rights management, the method comprising: receiving content froma content provider; identifying at least one of a device state and achannel associated with the content received from the content provider;accessing a digital rights management data structure to identify rightsfor the content; and applying the rights to the content.
 13. The methodof claim 12, further comprising updating a user interface based on therights associated with the content.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinthe updated user interface displays to a user of the device one or moreactivities that are permitted for the content, the one or more permittedactivities based on the rights associated with the content.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the one or more permitted activities includeone or more of: recording the content, saving the content, sharing thecontent, playing the content a specified number of times, and playingthe content above or below one or more specified volume levels.
 16. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the one or more permitted activities do notinclude an activity desired by a user, the method further comprisingquerying the digital rights management data structure to determinewhether the activity desired by the user can be obtained by receivingthe content in a different manner.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereinreceiving the content in a different manner comprises one or more of:receiving the content while the device is in a device state differentthan the identified device state; and receiving the content from achannel different than the channel associated with the content, thedifferent channel also being associated with the content.
 18. The methodof claim 12, further comprising receiving an update to the digitalrights management data structure from a content provider, the updatechanging one or more rights associated with a particular content.
 19. Ina device for accessing content, a method for protecting content usingdigital rights management, the method comprising: accessing contentusing a device; identifying one or more identifiers associated with thecontent, the device, or both, wherein the identifiers are selected fromthe group including: content provider, network type, and device state;transmitting the one or more identifiers to a remote server; receivingone or more rights from the remote server, the one or more rightsassociated with the content and identified by the remote server, whereinthe remote server identifies the one or more rights by accessing adigital rights management data structure using the one or moreidentifiers; and applying the rights to the content.
 20. The method ofclaim 19, wherein applying the rights to the content includesdisplaying, in a user interface of the device, one or more permissibleactivities for the content, the one or more permissible activitiesdetermined by the one or more received rights.
 21. The method of claim20, wherein the one or more permissible activities include one or moreof: recording the content, saving the content, sharing the content,playing the content a specified number of times, and playing the contentabove or below one or more specified volume levels.
 22. The method ofclaim 20, further comprising, in response to accessing second contentand receiving one or more rights associated with the second content,updating the user interface to display one or more permissibleactivities for the second content, the one or more permissibleactivities for the second content determined by the one or more receivedrights associated with the second content.
 23. The method of claim 19,further comprising storing the one or more rights associated with thecontent in a temporal cache on the device.